Comments on: Tips for healthy eating and weight loss/maintenance

By: Eva Taylor

Eva Taylor — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:30:25 +0000

You are most welcome.

By: whilehewasout

whilehewasout — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:54:02 +0000

Very nice tips! Thank you

By: Eva Taylor

Eva Taylor — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:32:43 +0000

Thanks Claire, I am not diabetic, but do have it in the family as does my husband so we generally do keep an eye out. I just find the lower glycemic diets keep my weight in check by keeping hunger at bay. Glad you are able to keep your diabetes in check by watching your weight. You may wish to take a look at Dr. Bernstein’s diet for diabetics that he developed when he showed signs of diabetes himself. A nice little bi-product is that you can also lose weight with it.

By: foodrefashionista

foodrefashionista — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:52:09 +0000

Aha…I’m not at the stage (and hopefully never) where I have to watch my insulin so closely. Rather I’m keeping Type 2 diabetes at bay by keeping my weight down (hence the WW program). And you’re right about watching out for the salt in chicken stock…good to hear about the new labelling requirements.

By: Eva Taylor

Eva Taylor — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:38:39 +0000

Thanks Claire, very kind of you to say. Welcome to my blog.
First, I am no Doctor nor nutritionist.
I would like to point out that this diet is quite different than Weight Watchers: while carrots are indeed a veg and not a starch, they are still a carb (as are peas, corn and beets to name a few). For this diet, the doctor want to regulate your insulin which is of course triggered by carbs and sugars which are turned into carbs – that’s why I referred to them as lower glycemic index. I am no doctor, but I know what works for my body (mid-late 40′s woman, 5″ 4″).
The chicken stock is indeed a life saver when it comes to lowering fat in cooking, but it’s always important to check the nutritional panel on the back. Just because a product says Low Sodium, it only means it is low-ER in sodium than that particular brand’s other products, so it may not be that healthy after all. The CFIA recently has mandated a more comprehensive labelling system where a consumer can be guaranteed that a product meets a minimum criteria when they state something like low sodium.
I’m going to check out your blog. Nice to see another Canadian here!

By: foodrefashionista

foodrefashionista — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:04:10 +0000

Great tips and strategies. Thanks for posting this. A couple of thoughts: Weight Watchers counts carrots as point-free vegetables because their carbs are from sugars as opposed to the starch found in potatoes, peas, and corn (which are not free). So they’re equal to other sugary veggies such as beets. And I often sauté in chicken broth although I often do Pam as well.

By: Food Forays

Food Forays — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:32:12 +0000

This is the first time I’ve read this section Eva, and the tips and tricks are fantastic. It’s really wonderful to see someone giving sane advice on weight control, and a realistic view of “dieting”. I really HATE that word! If people focused on the LIFESTYLE as you have, they would be so much healthier, and wouldn’t risk great detriment to their health with fad “diets”. Thank you for being a voice of reason!
Tami

By: Eva Taylor

Eva Taylor — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:57:25 +0000

Hi Kristy, I’m no nutritionalist but the ‘diet’ that’s really worked for me really restricts carbs and sugars (did you know that corn, peas and carrots are carbs? And milk has sugar?). Protein is paramount but volume is too! This has worked for me, if you try it, I’d love to hear your feedback. It’s a tough one at first, but once you’re into it your cravings stop and the weight slides off, up to 2kg per week. You need to take a multivitamin too, and sometimes a potassium supplement; we need a prescription for it so we need a dr.’s ok to do it in Canada.
This is the list of what you must eat per day:
100g protein 2x per day (lean beef or salmon 1x per week, all other meat/fish ok, except below)
230g raw weight veg 2x per day (see exceptions)
Water 2L per day (no juices or diet drinks, may have lemon or lime)
Fruit 2x 100g per day (see exceptions). Lemon and limes are unlimited.
Dairy very limited 2tbsp per day any type milk.
Drinks: no alcohol. No diet drinks. 1 cup caffeinated coffee/day. Caffeine free is ok. No fruit juices.
Condiments: read the label, sweetened even w/o sugar is off the list.
Breads, there are some brands that are OK, but it’s a brand thing, but it’s limited to one small slice per day, high fibre choice.
I can send you one of our week menu if you’d like.

What is forbidden:
Processed meat. Ready made foods (have you seen the sodium in some things? Even ‘low sodium’ is a farce!)
Sugar/honey/agave/sweeteners etc.
Carrots, potatoes, ochre, corn, peas, any squash, egg plant, avocado, rice
Bananas, cherries, grapes, qiwi, mangos, pineapple, honeydew, plums, pears, watermelon
Diet drinks (they make you crave sugar)
Clams, mussels, ground meats, lamb, Pork (except tenderloin is OK), fake crab legs, squid, sardines, herring, processed or flavoured is out (plain tuna in water is OK, 100g), duck.

The list is actually quite extensive, but it’s copy written so I can’t send it, sorry.
Hope this helps.

By: Kristy

Kristy — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:57:45 +0000

Hi Eva,

This is great useful info! My husband and I have changed our eating and drinking habits for the last four weeks. We have cut out alcohol through the week (which we have found hard during cooking stage – always nice to have a glass of…), leaving fri/sat or sat/sun to drink wine or cider. The other changes have been going vegetarian during the week abd treating ourselves to slow cooked sauces, pastas (what we love!) across Sat and Sun. But reading your above info I see we have been doing it all wrong . Our weekly dinner meals have been vegetarian but have consisted of potato, sweet potato, peas, carrots, as well as eggplant, capsicum, cauliflower, pumpkin, chickpeas, beans….too many carbs right?! We love potato . We are walking an hour a day, but yet to notice any change. We are only carrying about 8 kilos more than what we would like to be. Any suggestions? Best, Kristy

By: Eva Taylor

Eva Taylor — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:43:24 +0000

I Lisa, welcome to my blog, to glad to have you on board! I'm not a nutritionist but I do have a couple of tricks. Snacking is really a mental thing rather than a hungry thing, so it's a matter of training yourself not to do it. Drink lots of water (I like San Benadetto, lightly carbonated) with a splash of fresh lime juice, or lemon. If your belly is full with water, you won't feel like snacking. I like to drink my water out of a wine glass so it still feel fancy and not like I'm guzzling a jug of water! Cucumber is also a good low calorie alternative, but be careful, it can cause acid reflux for some people. Choose vegetables that are low in carbohydrates (carrots are high!). But if all else fails, I find a snack of high fibre cereal, such as Fibre 1 is a good option, but not too much (1/4 to 1/2 cup). And if you're concerned about sugar, just pour a little water on and not milk (milk contains sugar, as does unsweetened yogurt). The sugar may not be great at bedtime. If you can't stand that, try 5-10 almonds (unsalted), the trick is to control the quantity and not bring out the whole bag. If you can 'save' a fruit portion for your late night snack, cut up a small apple into quarters, it will make you think you're getting more than just biting into it.